Introduction: What is Environmental Sustainability?
The word sustainability was infrequently used before the 1970s. Since the 1970s, the word and concept have gained popularity. Definitions of sustainability vary within the scientific community, and among organizations, institutions, levels of government, and individuals. In fact, “[b]y the mid-1990s, there were well over 100 definitions of sustainability” (Marshall & Toffel, 2005, p. 673). Definitions and interpretations often differ among fields and disciplines.
In general, sustainability seeks to respond to the needs and values of society, while preserving its life-support systems. This concept of sustainability recognizes that human activity and human well-being are interconnected and take place within the environment.
The definition and concept of sustainability have evolved over the past 30 years, and many different iterations have appeared, but the term is strongly associated with the definition of sustainable development. In fact, sustainability is often used interchangeably with sustainable development, although attempts have been made to distinguish the two.
The Emergence of Sustainable Development
In 1982, the United Nation established the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) to recognize the need to bring together development and environmental agendas.In 1987, the WCED published a report entitled, Our Common Future (also called the Brundtland Report), which popularized the concept of sustainable development and established its widely used definition. The Report defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, p. 43).'The environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs, and attempts to defend it in isolation from human concerns have given the very word “environment” a connotation of naivety in some political circles. The word “development” has also been narrowed by some into a very limited focus, along the lines of “what poor nations should do to become richer,” and thus again is automatically dismissed by many in the international arena as being a concern of specialists, of those involved in questions of “development assistance.” But the “environment” is where we live; and “development” is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable.” - Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chairperson of the Commission (WCED, 1987, p. 8)
This concept of sustainable development highlighted two key issues: “the problem of environmental degradation that so commonly accompanies economic growth, and yet the need for such growth to alleviate poverty” (Adams, 2006, p. 2).
Although the Brundtland Report coined the popular definition of sustainable development, the concept has been interpreted in many different ways depending on individual, organizational, or cultural worldviews. Sometimes these interpretations can be so different that they could be advocating for opposing things, depending on what aspect of development and environment the individual or organization is emphasizing. Sustainable development often seeks to meet economic, social, and environmental goals simultaneously, to satisfy this Triple Bottom Line.
A common model of sustainable development (as well as certain iterations of sustainability) is the Three Circles Model (see figure below). This model describes the environment, society and the economy as three separate but equal goals. Sustainable development occurs when all three goals are maximized and parts are integrated. Essentially, there is a win-win-win in all three areas simultaneously. All components are needed and must be considered together in a balanced way. Addressing social or environmental problems becomes interdisciplinary – since natural and social systems are interconnected.
Critiques of Sustainable Development
Despite the popularity and increasing acceptance and adoption of sustainable development, the term and its implications have been debated and critiqued. The standard definition, for example, is vague and ambiguous.- What is to be sustained? Nature (biodiversity, ecosystems), life support systems (resources, ecosystem services), or communities (culture, places)?
- What is to be developed? People (child survival, equity, education), economy (wealth, consumption), or society (institutions, states, regions)?
- And for how long? Twenty-five years, “now and in the future”, or forever?
Sustainability
There is a need to break down barriers between the three dimensions or goals and different disciplines to move towards new outlooks and ways of understanding the world. And thus, the term sustainability has been used instead of sustainable development in hopes of better reflecting the integration of the economy, society, and environment. Sustainability attempts to describe an integrated and holistic approach to addressing societal and environmental challenges. It looks at interactions across domains and scales (environment/nature to society; local to global) and recognizes the complexity of those interactions.Critiques of Sustainability
The term sustainability is not without its criticism as well. There are many definitions and interpretations of sustainability, and no clear definition or understanding of the term exists among experts. Conceptualizations of sustainability occur across a continuum from those who believe that natural materials and services can be replaced or duplicated by technology or manufactured goods and services to maintain human well-being and thereby maintain sustainability (trade-offs exist!), to those who believe that natural materials and services must be maintained and enhanced because they cannot be duplicated or replaced (no trade-offs!).Since sustainability is so broad and overly used, it has been said that it seems to mean everything to everyone, and in turn, ends up meaning nothing at all. The broadness of the term may allow individuals, communities, organizations, and governments the flexibility to implement sustainability actions within specific contexts and at a variety of scales, but it also limits its ability to be measured. There are, in fact, no accepted criteria of sustainability with supporting test methods to measure it. Furthermore, since there is no standard or common understanding of sustainability, this makes it more difficult to communicate actions and strategies among groups striving towards this goal and to the general public.
Despite these limitations, there is a growing body of knowledge and research exploring sustainability and sustainability practices because the need to orient ourselves and society towards sustainable living is great, given the challenges we face today (e.g. climate change, loss of biodiversity, resource depletion, food security).
Environmental Sustainability in Practice
For these learning modules, we have chosen to use the following definition of environmental sustainability from which to launch our discussion. As you can see, this definition builds on that of sustainable development.Environmental sustainability means “meeting the resource and services needs of current and future generations without compromising the health of the ecosystems that provide them… [It is] a condition of balance, resilience, and interconnectedness that allows human society to satisfy its needs while neither exceeding the capacity of its supporting ecosystems to continue to regenerate the services necessary to meet those needs, nor by our actions diminishing biological diversity” (Morelli, 2011, p. 6).
We specifically refer to environmental sustainability because we recognize that humans depend on the natural environment for health, survival, and well-being, and we, in turn, have an impact on the environment. Our actions in the environment ultimately cycle back to affect us.
“Environmental degradation is inextricably and casually linked to problems of poverty, hunger, gender inequality and health. Protecting and managing the natural resource base for economic and social development and changing consumption and production patterns are fundamental requirements for poverty eradication” (Melnick et al., 2005, p. 2).
In 2000, the United Nations (UN) launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to provide a blueprint to help meet the needs of the world’s poorest people and achieve certain development targets by 2015. Goal 7, Ensure Environmental Sustainability, highlighted the importance of environmental sustainability in the development process.
Following the MDGs, the UN developed the new 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with targets to be achieved by 2030. “Environmental sustainability is a core pillar of the SDGs and a prerequisite for lasting socioeconomic development and poverty eradication” (United Nations, 2015, p. 61). Although all goals are equally important, some goals, such as climate action, are more urgent.
Given the strong link between human well-being and environmental health, and the fact that there are finite amounts of resources on Earth, the need and urgency to focus on environmental sustainability is great. In moving towards environmental sustainability, we also promote sustainability in social and economic spheres.
When we refer to environmental sustainability in practice we want to illustrate what is actually being done on the ground towards these goals. It is good to keep in mind that although we attempt to look for “solutions” to the problems we face, issues are complex, involve many stakeholders, and rarely have a one-time solution that fixes them. What we do in practice are our attempts at a best way forward, informed by research, various knowledge systems, and continual feedback so that we can make adjustments as we forge ahead.
This open content material focuses on providing an introduction to the practice of environmental sustainability. We explore how society is working towards environmental sustainability in five areas: education, planning and management, agriculture, geospatial technologies, and communications.
